Chapter 41 – Courier Recruitment Fair
"Celestial Venerable, are you still hiding something from me?"
Ning Lu looked at the overly horrific and flamboyant scene before him and asked the Celestial Venerable—who had been standing idly by and spectating—this question.
The Celestial Venerable set down the gray-mist watermelon he had taken two bites of.
"How could that be?"
"Don't you know that right now you are me and I am you? In the eyes of Spirit World creatures, this is a once-in-many-eons chance personally convened by the 'Dominion of the Spirit World'—how could they not fight for it?"
At the Celestial Venerable's explanation, Ning Lu turned to survey the sight before him.
Seven beams of pure light in different colors appeared in the distance. Several hounds covered in short black fur, dark-red flames burning in their sockets, hesitantly stepped out of the flames, seemingly puzzled why this mighty being still needed to summon couriers.
Behind the hounds, a large crowd of transparent spirits whose faces bore tentacles like octopi peeked timidly from the edge of the flames at the figure below.
Behind the soul-reavers, a patch of void twisted and animated into a huge, slender shadow.
Four pairs of blood-red eyes emerged from the gloom, apparently trying to confirm the summoner's identity.
Farther off, bizarre-looking Spirit World beings flickered in and out, packing the end of the flames into a dense throng.
But soon, as Ning Lu's gaze swept over them, the weaker Beyond creatures could not endure the pressure of the "Dominion of the Spirit World" and the surrounding horrors, and they vanished back into the flames. Only the Hound of Fügen, the animated void, and Renette Tinicole remained, along with the distant seven beams of pure light.
A moment later, those blood-red eyes blinked and disappeared before Ning Lu; the Hound of Fügen, having confirmed his identity, nuzzled his hand affectionately.
With the candle half-burnt and only one courier left in front of him, Ning Lu stroked the hound's head, marveling that its seemingly stiff bristles felt surprisingly fluffy, then addressed the animated void.
"Would you be willing to become my courier?"
In the center of the shadow, a pale circle like a pupil appeared. It studied Ning Lu silently, then conveyed a thought:
"I am willing, mighty being."
"animated void… if I remember correctly, it's one of the main ingredients for the Planeswalker potion—an angel-level courier!"
Its reason for agreeing to serve me should be similar to why Renette Tinicole chose Klein.
Without hesitation, Ning Lu asked,
"Do you require payment?"
…
The animated void fell silent, unsure whether this mighty being was testing it or asking sincerely.
But after a moment, a strong survival instinct and ingrained understanding of this mighty being prompted it to answer honestly,
"No, I do not."
"Good—then let's sign the contract." Ning Lu generously accepted the terms the other party had volunteered.
The animated void stared in silence at the clauses of gray mist, feeling an odd sense of familiarity and strangeness.
It sensed that these seemingly airtight clauses would be useless before this mighty being.
After finishing, Ning Lu revised the summoning incantation based on the animated void's nature.
"Traveler roaming the upper realms, animated thing wandering the void, courier belonging solely to Ning Lu Emonsal."
The incantation contained a little of Ning Lu's ingenuity—mainly to prevent anyone from reverse-engineering his courier's summoning spell and then being casually crushed in the animated void's angelic wrath.
The slender white pupil of the animated void quivered as it regarded Ning Lu. Ning Lu picked up the letter he had prepared, added a few lines, and handed it to the animated void.
"Deliver this letter to The Dark Saint, Karsma."
Hearing the request, the animated void gave no reaction beyond a slight bob of its pupil, swallowed the letter into the void, and vanished… In a well-hidden place, Darkness hovered beneath the roof, and all around, secrecy wrought by Door-Pathway Beyonder power held sway.
After a while, a sigh finally sounded in the gloom.
"I've checked our archives; I'm basically certain the one blocking our return to Tingen is—"
Another voice answered, filled with both doubt and dread, so cautious it seemed to whisper,
"But isn't that one the XX of XX…? Still, I gave that Beyonder item to the Lord's envoy; perhaps it can help him."
Speaking up to here, the speaker—The Saint of Secrets, Botis—added uneasily, "Karsma, do you think the envoy the Lord chose this time might be—"
"Shh. That isn't for us to discuss." Karsma pressed his lips, warning Botis not to speculate on the Lord's will.
"We need only support the Lord's will without question. Whether the envoy intends Divine Descent in Tingen City is the Lord's decree."
Botis nodded silently. "Fortunately, my secrecy still works; at least here we can discuss countermeasures."
"Indeed." Karsma gave a somber nod. "With secrecy's shelter, we can at least—"
Mid-sentence, his voice cut off abruptly.
Both stared dumbfounded as the void between them split and a slender shadow emerged.
The two demigods instantly lowered their heads, averting their gaze from the complete mythical creature; even so, signs of losing control appeared on their bodies.
The shadow paid them no heed, passing straight through the demigod-level secrecy and dropping a letter into Karsma's hand.
"…Perhaps that one simply can't be bothered with us."
After a long pause, Karsma unfolded the letter and decided to speak plainly.